John Calipari buyout: How much would Kentucky coach be owed if fired after March Madness loss?

John Calipari is one of college basketball’s most decorated and recognizable coaches, a lofty standing that has only gotten higher in recent years following the retirements or departures of the likes of Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, Villanova’s Jay Wright and West Virginia’s Bob Huggins.

The Kentucky coach has presided over the winningest program in Division I history for the past 15 years, a time in which he has won a national championship, made four Final Fours and produced dozens of NBA first-round draft picks.

For all Calipari has achieved over the course of his coaching career and, specifically, his time leading the Wildcats, he hasn’t been immune from criticism, particularly in what might be the most pressurized and mentally draining role in all of college athletics, let alone just college basketball.

Whatever existing critiques there were of Calipari entering the 2024 NCAA Tournament won’t be getting any quieter.

A Kentucky team led by the top-ranked 2023 recruiting class saw its 2023-24 season end abruptly in the most stunning result of the first full day of March Madness action this year, an 80-76 loss at the hands of No. 14 seed Oakland Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena in Calipari’s hometown of Pittsburgh.

It marks the second time in the past three years at the Wildcats have lost to a team seeded 14^th or worse in the NCAA Tournament, joining an 85-79 overtime loss to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s in the 2022 tournament.

Naturally, such high-profile setbacks at a program with justifiably high expectations for postseason success will gin up frustration among fans and raise questions about the coach.

REQUIRED READING: What's ahead for John Calipari and Kentucky basketball after latest NCAA Tournament exit?

John Calipari buyout

While coaches of Calipari’s stature and pedigree don’t often get fired, even from a program as storied and demanding as Kentucky, the Wildcats’ postseason struggles have at least prompted fans to angrily wonder whether a change at the helm of the program is necessary.

If Kentucky would want to take such a drastic action, it would be incredibly expensive.

According to the terms of a new contract he signed in 2019, Calipari would be owed a buyout of $34,968,749 as of April 1 if he is fired without cause.

Calipari’s new deal came during an offseason in which he received interest from UCLA for its vacant head coaching position, which ultimately went to Mick Cronin. At the time, it was described as a “lifetime contract,” though the 10-year deal worth a total of $86 million isn’t technically that. It’s just financially onerous for the university to get out of should it want to move on from its coach.

As large as that buyout figure is, a school stomaching such a massive payment to an ousted coach isn’t unprecedented. Last year, Texas A&M paid fired football coach Jimbo Fisher more than $75 million to buy out the remaining years on his fully guaranteed contract.

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John Calipari salary

This season, Calipari made $8.54 million, a figure that included $8.5 million in school pay, according to USA TODAY Sports’ coaching salary database. By comparison, Oakland coach Greg Kampe, whose team defeated Calipari’s Thursday night, made just $329,609 from his school.

He is the second-highest-paid coach in college basketball, behind only Kansas’ Bill Self, who made $9.63 million. Calipari is the highest-paid coach in the SEC, making nearly $3 million more than his next-closest colleague – Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, at $5.72 million.

John Calipari NCAA Tournament record

At Kentucky, Calipari is 32-11 in NCAA Tournament games.

As of late, though, that mark hasn’t been quite as sterling. Since his previously undefeated 2014-15 team lost in the Final Four to Wisconsin, Calipari’s Wildcats squads are just 10-7.

Over the past five seasons since Calipari signed his new contract – which includes the 2019-20 season, when the NCAA Tournament was cancelled, and the 2020-21 season, when Kentucky failed to make the 68-team field – his teams have just one NCAA Tournament victory. Kentucky is 1-4 in its past five NCAA Tournament games, matching the program’s worst mark over a five-game tournament stretch.

Entering the 2022 tournament, the Wildcats were 19-0 in games against teams seeded No. 14 or worse since 1985, when the tournament expanded to 85 teams. Since then, it’s 0-2 in such games.

USA TODAY’s Steve Berkowitz contributed to this report

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: John Calipari buyout: What Kentucky coach's contract gets him if fired